Query: NC_010741:546573 Treponema pallidum subsp. pallidum SS14, complete genome
Lineage: Treponema pallidum; Treponema; Spirochaetaceae; Spirochaetales; Spirochaetes; Bacteria
General Information: Treponema pallidum subsp. pallidum SS14 was isolated in 1977 from a patient with secondary syphilis. This strain is less susceptible than the Nichols strain for a number of antibiotics. This organisms is divided into subspecies each of which causes a specific disease. This organism is the causative agent of endemic and venereal syphilis. This sexual transmitted disease was first discovered in Europe at the end of the fifteenth century, however, the causative agent was not identified until 1905. At one time syphilis was the third most commonly reported communicable disease in the USA. Syphilis is characterized by multiple clinical stages and long periods of latent, asymptomatic infection. Although effective therapies have been available since the introduction of penicillin, syphilis remains a global health problem.
Subject: NC_011959:972798 Thermomicrobium roseum DSM 5159, complete genome
Lineage: Thermomicrobium roseum; Thermomicrobium; Thermomicrobiaceae; Thermomicrobiales; Chloroflexi; Bacteria
General Information: Thermomicrobium roseum DSM 5159 was isolated from Yellowstone National Park, USA. Obligate thermophile with unusual cell wall structure. Thermomicrobium roseum is a red-pigmented, rod-shaped, Gram-negative extreme thermophile that possesses both an atypical cell wall composition and an unusual cell membrane that is composed entirely of long-chain 1,2-diols. Analyses of environmental sequences from hot spring environments show that T.roseum displays a low quantity but ubiquitous presence in top layers of microbial mats. Few standard housekeeping genes are found on the megaplasmid, however, it does encode a complete system for chemotaxis including both chemosensory components and an entire flagellar apparatus. T. roseum oxidizes CO aerobically, making it the first thermophile known to do so. In addition, is is propose that glycosylation of its carotenoids plays a crucial role in the adaptation of the cell membrane to this bacterium's thermophilic lifestyle. Because T. roseum is a deep-branching member of this phylum, eventhough this species is not photosynthetic, analysis of the genome provides some insight into the origins of photosynthesis in the Chloroflexi.